


Pidge's Problem

by Introverted_Cupcake_x



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Implied Shiro/Allura - Freeform, Mild non-blood violence, Other, Periods, TW: Bodily fluids, implied Lance/Pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2018-11-14 04:50:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11200794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Introverted_Cupcake_x/pseuds/Introverted_Cupcake_x
Summary: Fighting in an intergalactic war against an oppressive dictator sure passes the time. Unfortunately, Pidge meets an old enemy worse than Zarkon: her worst period pains and the ugly feelings they give her.





	1. It Begins.

She went to bed last night feeling more tired than usual. It’s no surprise, considering the amount of training that Shiro had drawn up to whip the paladins’ into shape - which also included rock-climbing in Arusia’s rockiest outcrops, so no wonder Pidge felt like her core muscles turned to steel.

Unfortunately, steel can bend with the right amount of pressure and break.

Without any prompting bleeps from her alarm, Pidge woke up early to a queasy feeling of unease and wondering why her limbs suddenly felt like lead. She whimpered and sat up with tremendous effort, feeling blood squish around and horrified chills ran through her boiling limbs as she remembered.

“Oh no, not now!” she groaned and threw herself off her bed, lamenting at how much blood got onto her clothes and bed sheets. She quickly yanked all the sheets off whilst ignoring the jabbing pains in her abdomen. Thank goodness she’s in sleepwear, but now from her mental calculation she has another 6 days of bloody hell to work through frequent bathroom breaks, fatigue and a lack of over-the-counter painkillers in outer space.

The suns have not risen yet in this strange space system, but Pidge was already busy in the kitchen area washing the blood away. Thankfully she found a soap bar that seemed to work miracles on blood stains. While she scrubbed away, her mind wandered to back on Earth where she remembered the first time her period started.

‘Oh yeah... I was only 11 when it started,’ she sighed, ‘I cried because I was shocked. I expected it to come at 13. Mom was really proud of me for handling it better and gave me a whole tub of ice cream for myself as a treat for entering womanhood.’

Not that Pidge cared about what women do. All she wanted is to do is build computers and, in the past few months, find her lost family. It’s a strange feeling not really thinking about your gender while you’re out fighting in a huge intergalactic war against an oppressive dictator.

‘If only ice cream is abundant...’ She pursed her lips, watching the pinkish water wash down the drain. ‘We’ve been away from Earth for... maybe almost 2 months? But I never had my period in that time. Maybe my body was under that much stress. I wish my uterus fell out when I went through a wormhole. I don’t even want kids.’

Her thoughts are the only things occupying her mind as well as her memories then she realised something.

‘Oh... Aside from Allura, I’m the only girl,’ she sighed heavily and turned the tap off, shaking the sheet to dry it a little, ‘oh well. They know I’m a girl. They’ll understand.’

_

Unfortunately, they didn’t clue in hours later when she walked awkwardly into the room while wearing the sheets around her like a shroud and everyone watched her.

“Bad night, Pidge?” Lance quipped and she could only smile nervously and snatched up a bowl of Hunk’s latest concoction.

“Kinda,” she answered and ate a whole mouthful of the goo. The taste hit her hard and she froze. It tasted brilliant. “Hunk, did you put something new in this?”

“Huh? No, just the usual,” the cook blinked and gave Coran a shifty gaze, “although I wouldn’t be surprised if SOMEONE sabotaged my cooking because mine’s better!” Coran humphed and turned his nose up at his remark.

“It’s good,” Keith commented, just lazily eating away. Beside beside him, Allura glanced at Pidge.

“I enjoy it,” Allura smiled and looked at Pidge, “maybe it’s that walk you had earlier working your appetite?”

“A walk?” Pidge echoed, freezing.

“Yeah, I noticed you wandering about to the kitchen with your sheets over yourself.”

“A-ah... well...” Pidge stuttered, thinking fast. Though nobody was scrutinising her and were busy doing their own thing, her limbs felt weak from her heart racing fast. “It’s... I couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh well, there’s always tonight,” Allura shrugged, “Shiro’s got another intense training schedule for everyone, so you’ll be sleeping like a log tonight!” At that, everyone else groaned and Lance faceplanted his goo, raising his hand.

“Can’t go. I’m dead.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Allurea chided, “I’ll be joining this time, so it’ll be better!”

But for Pidge who uncharacteristically gobbled up all her food in one go, dread filled her.

-

Shiro - bless the darling - decided that today’s good team-bonding exercise includes heart-to-heart conversations.

“Oooh - so we’re going to play Spin The Bottle?” Lance said excitedly. Allura gave Keith a questioning look but he mouthed ‘Don’t ask.’ while subconsciously rubbing at a spot on his neck.

“No." They all looked at Shiro as he sat down with them in the training room, holding the mind-readers from a previous bonding session. He handed them out to his team mates. “Today, we’re going to share some memories with each other. To see more what motivates us to keep going and fighting for the galaxy.”

Pidge could barely pay attention. Sitting cross-legged is NOT the ideal position when you’re on your period. She doesn’t have any tampons. Not even a towel. Just... the remnants of the unfortunate spare sheets from the guest room making her feel fat and gross.

“Pidge?”

She snapped to attention and nodded like crazy. Shiro stared at her.

“You want to go first? Okay. Take your time, and focus on the memory to show us, then explain why it’s a motivating memory.”

Shit, shit, shit! She hasn’t even thought of a good memory and everyone is staring at her! More sweat beaded down her feverish forehead.

From her anxiety-riddled mind, the data screen in front of her briefly projected the grisly image from this morning of seeing blood on her pyjama bottoms, but thankfully lasted half a second, but noticed some concern on the fellow Paladins’ faces. Keith almost looked like he was about to throw up.

“What was that?!” he suddenly yelled at her and everyone sharply looked at him in surprise. “If you’re going to think of blood, just at least WARN us!” The Blue Paladin snorted.

“What, you’re scared of blood?” Lance jeered, “oh wait, I bet you were one of those guys who chicken out of biology because you had to cut a worm in half!”

“Can it, assface!” the Red Paladin spat and stood up with fists clenched.

“Stand down, you both!” Shiro barked and they glared at each other, Keith reluctantly sitting back down. Pidge’s face only grew hotter until her eyes moistened.

“I don’t feel that well,” she suddenly spoke up in a hoarse voice and yanked the device off her head before running out the room. She heard cries for her to wait, but she couldn’t.

-

She’s starting to hate frequenting the bathroom and being in there for longer than usual. The more she came here, the more her hatred grows towards her body for being this way.

“Stupid uterus, stupid breasts, stupid skin, stupid, stupid, stupid!” she growled and rinsed the torn strips, squeezing them extra hard and almost shredding them before wrapping them back around her underwear again and fixed her frazzled appearance. But anger still consumed her, clawing at her unsettled nerves, her mind, her fingers to tear something up, her mouth to bellow obscenities, her legs to just FUCKING MOVE--

She swung and kicked the door and it snapped in half. She gasped as both halves swung pathetically and the handle fell to the floor. On the other side of the door, Lance stood there with his face completely drained of blood and his hands between his legs where he now wet himself from the surprising assault on the bathroom door. He ran away.

Pidge groaned and clawed at her messy hair, willing her tears to stop, willing her body to stop being in pain, willing for someone to talk to, but nothing came as she retired to her room early.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day greeted her similar pains. She spent a good extra hour in bed hugging a spare pillow tightly that she secretly stole from Lance’s room (that guy sleeps with so many pillows he won’t notice one missing.) She managed to sleep, but only with frequent bouts of her damn body demanding her to use the toilet.

When she eventually joined her teammates for breakfast, everyone just about finished with their food. Of course, Pidge’s food sat and congealed, but ignoring the rubbery taste that reminded her of black clots she ate it all. The other guys glanced at Shiro, but the leader said nothing as he watched Pidge from the corner of his eye, not saying anything as he ate his food tenderly. Lance made hand gestures to communicate with him without speaking, trying to translate his fear of Pidge’s newfound strength, but they made him look like a crazy person and Keith snickered. Lance gave him another kind of gesture and they glared until the atmosphere superheated. They stopped as soon as Pidge’s spoon clinked against the porcelain and she stood up to leave and wash her dish. Hunk ran to her side.

“Uh, Pidge? I’ll wash up!” he offered cheerfully, but Pidge just shook her head and rolled her sleeves up.

“I’ll do them this time.”

“But--” Hunk went to protest, but saw Shiro shaking his head. “Okay. Call if you need help.”

“Will do.”

She didn’t.

She spent half an hour washing the dishes and drying them when it should’ve taken her 10 minutes at the most. But she was so occupied with herself she never noticed the time pass.

“Pidge?”

She gasped and jumped, looking at Shiro.

“Relax,” he smiled slightly, “didn’t sleep well?”

“No.” That’s the truth, at least.

“In that case, just take your time,” he advised her. “Join and leave training whenever you want.”

Pidge could only fake a smile.

“Thanks.”

She did go to training - this time it’s for sword practice and Keith mastered it already - but tiredness slowed her down and numbed her ability to follow instructions. Because he mastered sword fighting, Shiro appointed Keith to lead the class but his patience soon ran thin when Lance wanted to try out a fancy move involving leaping at an enemy and slicing them in half like from an anime he saw. It didn’t go well against a holographic enemy because he flew through it and fell in a heap. This was typical of Lance, but Keith was worse with Pidge especially when he easily tripped her with an outstretched foot. A glance from Shiro standing nearby reminded the Red Paladin that not everyone can do what he does and he took a couple of deep breaths.

But then it was Pidge’s turn to fight one-on-one with Hunk. Of everyone, they’re the least skilled. Sure, Pidge had her bayard granting her an advantage in close combat, but her bayard is not a sword.

“Let’s go, Pidge!” Hunk called out and dove forward. Pidge saw he defence go down immediately and side-stepped. Her sudden movement took the Yellow paladin by surprise and he stumbled to the ground.

Just as Pidge was about to turn to finish him off, Keith spoke up sharply and she paused where she was, facing him with Hunk lying on the ground behind her.

‘NOW what’s wrong?’ she thought in irritation.

“Pay attention!” he snapped and she stared at him, desperately trying to focus on his words and translating them into coherent thoughts. “You can’t space out in the middle of a battle! Look, you didn’t even notice that Hunk stabbed you just now!” Pidge glanced down to see the tip of a blue-tinted holographic sword poking out of her stomach. Though it was having no physical effect on her sore body, her face tinted green and briefly forgot that it was fake. Her nerves screamed and she covered her mouth.

It disappeared while Hunk apologised and Keith carried on, further pouring salt into the metaphorical wound. Or womb.

“If you die in the middle of a fight, then Voltron will be done for! All our hard work rallying the planets and siding with the Galran rebels will be all for nought! Our home planet Earth will be the biggest bounty for Zarkon after dealing with us, and he will have no qualms with showing off our corpses as trophies!”

Pidge’s nerves snapped.

She sprung at Keith with a newfound lightness. Nobody had the time to gasp. She seized Keith by the throat, forcing him to the ground with all her weight and snatched his bayard from his hand to flip it and press the tip against his cheek. His eyes stared back at her. She panted heavily.

Before she knew it, someone - maybe two or three of her team mates - held her arms in a vice-like grip and Lance quickly pried Keith’s bayard from her hand.

“What the hell, Pidge?!” he yelped as the shocked Red Paladin backed up and hurried to his feet, holding his sore throat. Not even Keith could stay composed for long as his mouth hung open.

Pidge felt Shiro’s hold on her body loosen, but tighten again when her muscles tensed for another fight.

“Enough, Pidge!” he scolded her. Nearby, Hunk looked on worriedly.

“He wouldn’t shut up!” the girl finally ranted, glaring at Keith as Lance stood in front of him with anxiety. “He had his guard down! This training exercise is about exploiting weak areas, after all!”

“That doesn’t justify attacking your own team mate!” the leader argued. “Pidge, you’re dismissed for today. Make up for it tomorrow.”

She turned to face him closely and hissed “Piss off.” before yanking herself out of his hold and stormed out the room.

When the adrenaline rush from blind rage passed, her heart pounded harder and she cried before running back to her room, not noticing Coran passing by.

-

She could only sit on the windowsill on her room just watching whatever strange creatures flew past and the many moons orbiting the planet. It felt like hours, observing the pink fluffy clouds bobbling high and merging with yellow and blue vapours. Even the air tastes nice - she’s sure that there’s another element similar to oxygen that’s giving them breathing space. For the first time since this chaotic morning and yesterday, Pidge finally felt at peace.

A knock on the door interrupted her peace and fury filled her veins. The urge to punch something returned and she stormed to the door, seizing it open and seeing Hunk watching her nervously, holding a bowl of goo.

“H-hi,” he stuttered, “would you like the leftovers from this morning’s breakfast? Keith’s throwing up and I’d hate to let this food go to waste.”

Pidge relaxed at the scent of the food and sighed. The thought of Keith throwing up after her surprise attack gave her some satisfaction too.

“Yes, please. Thanks, Hunk.” She accepted the bowl and spoon, and closed the door before he could say anything.

-

She hasn’t left her room after that. She ate all her food, but wished that Hunk would give her more.

‘Damn period’s making me hungry,’ she huffed, mentally scolding her stomach for rumbling.

Than another knock came to the door and she went to it reluctantly, opening it to see Lance holding the game console they once got from the Space Mall together with the biggest smile he could muster without showing how shit-scared he is of her.

“Hey, Pidge! We could set this up in the training room and get some real 3D games going on!” he burst excitedly. “Come on, you’re the tech genius!”

Although the proposal was tremendous, Pidge felt excitement course through her veins. But then she moved and the unpleasant sensation between her legs bothered her and her mood lowered.

“Can we do it later?” she murmured, “I’m tired.”

“Aww come on! Please?” Lance pleaded, “I already lied to Allura and said that a Galran kicked the bathroom door in half! Of course, KEITH was being a princess about it, but it’s not all about him, you get what I’m saying?”

“Just no, Lance!” Pidge snapped and he flinched. Regret crossed her face and she shut the door with a whispered apology.

Pidge spent the rest of the day in her room, trying to ignore the returning pains that seemed determined to make her life as hell-like as possible.

When night came, she snuck into the kitchen and ate some food before returning, finally managing to sleep. But it was not meant to be, for the pains returned with a vengeance and she woke up at the crack of dawn’s ass and lost the will to live, settling instead for staring at the ceiling until she heard shouting going on outside - something about Keith stealing Lance’s goddamn pillows and how the heck would he know since he has lots anyway, cue someone throwing the word ‘sad lonely virgin’ around followed by the sounds of bayards activating and Lance screaming in Spanish.

Another day begins. Only 3 left before Pidge can escape this bloody hell.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was written pre-season 3 - just throwing that out there to avoid confusion, and I have also made minor changes to the previous chapters to correct spelling mistakes.

The next day was even worse. More blood flooded to accompany the jabbing in her abdominal area. It got so bad for Pidge that she doubled over in agony in bed throughout the morning, being hit with occasional feverish flushes. She REALLY wished that sound could find painkillers - herbs, magic, ANYTHING to deal with the fucking pain!

Many times have other people came to her door to ask her through it what’s wrong or why she’s avoiding them, she told them to leave her alone and that she’s feeling sick. Of course, this is a danger to Voltron. But no activity has been sensed from the Galrans yet, but it’s only a matter of time. And time is precious. Pidge knows that, of course, as the time she spends with Voltron brings her closer to finding her lost family, but her damn uterus cruelly cackles with extra runny clots that made her want to rip her own abdomen open and tear the damn thing out and stamp on it before setting it on fire.

After hours of angrily cursing her body and piling wishes in her heart, she crashes into full-scale crying fits and scratching her arms and back from hugging herself so tightly to remember what her mom’s hugs were like.

Her fever worsened. Her tears might as well have come from a boiling kettle.

-

"I tried getting her to set up the game system with me the other day, but it won’t work!” Lance whined at everyone as they sat around the dining table - everyone minus Pidge. “She LOVES that game! I do too, but we bought it together! Buying a console together is like a marriage certificate for gamers!” Keith rolled his eyes.

“But it isn’t,” he quipped and Lance almost dived at him but Shiro spoke up.

“Just think. Did something happen to her?”

“I hope not, she’s a great person,” Hunk gulped.

“And what was with the recent training exercises?” Allura wondered, “she was clearly in distress about something.” The Paladins all glanced at each other with dark worry.

“Okay, I’m going to say it,” Lance blurted, “has someone sexually assaulted her?”

Shock paused existence.

“Fuck no,” Shiro growled and slowly stood up.

Everyone looked at him, too shocked by Lance’s question to point out that Shiro swore with blue murder echoing in his tone.

“Goodness no!” Allura gasped and looked at Lance, “what made you think that?”

“Think about it!” Lance spoke up quickly, “she ate so much of Hunk’s food recently, she’s got dark circles under her eyes, she walks funny, she BROKE a bathroom door in half (sorry I lied to you, Allura), she almost straight-up cut Keith with his own bayard, she swore at Shiro and she’s not doing the things that she enjoys doing! Has she built or talked about technical things in the past couple of days?”

Murmurs of ‘no’ echoed with their unease.

“I say we go for an intervention!” Lance declared.

“No!” Keith barked, “what if it IS true? Would you spring it upon a victim like ‘oh hi! I know you’re suffering, but we’re here for you!’ That’ll just scare her off and make her feelings worse! For all we know, it could be just depression and it'll go away after a while or something!"

“Lance is right,” Shiro agreed, “but only if one of us meets her first. We can’t all be in the same room. Trauma is a personal thing. I would know.” Quiet filled the room and Allura nodded.

“It’s true. You’ll be able to relate to her better,” she remarked.

“But--” Lance spoke up but Keith put his hand on his shoulder, giving him a pointed look and he relaxed. “Alright. Shiro, you go first.”

“Thanks,” Shiro breathed, “I’ll go now. I want you all to stay here. We don’t want her to sense you outside her room.”

-

Pidge’s pain persisted again, but right now it’s less worse than the past couple of hours ago. She just wished that she could stop yawning and actually sleep...

Knock-knock.

“What is it, Lance?!” Pidge spat.

“It’s me,” a deep voice said and she gasped, quickly scrabbling to her feet to open the door to see Shiro standing there.

“Sh-Shiro!” she gulped. “What brings you here?”

“I just want to talk with you about something,” he said neutrally. “May I come in?”

This completely caught the Green Paladin off-guard.

“Yes-- I mean, no, I mean-- ugh!” Pidge panicked and looked at her bed, completely stripped of its sheets to show a bare mattress and a faded dark brown patch in the middle of it. “W-wait a second!”

She slammed the door and leaned out the open window to pull the sheets back inside where they were weighed in place with a couple of heavy books. They’re still a little damp, but if she could just cover that one spot in the middle of the mattress, then...

“Done! Come in!” she called just as she tossed down the folded sheets and sat down. The door hissed open and Shiro entered. His eyes automatically turned to her mattress but said nothing as he sat down beside her. Now that the older man was in her room, sitting with her, her frayed nerves swayed.

“Is there anything you need before we start?” Shiro said suddenly as though he forgot that he was there alone with her. He was met with a confused look, but Pidge shook her head.

“No... What do you want?”

“I feel that I need to let you know that if there’s something wrong...” Shiro began, “then you can tell me about it.” He expected Pidge to react angrily, but she inhaled through her nostrils and averted her gaze.

“I know. I just...” she made a vague gesture, “I’m just out of it. I feel sick.”

“Have I told you about my nightmares?” Shiro asked and the girl shook her head. “It’s because I only get them when I feel at peace, and when I do I get paralysed. They say that when things are quiet, it’s easy to think of bad times and you get overwhelmed. I feel of all my failures and all the what-ifs come crashing down on me, so I’ve been taking the time to learn about meditation techniques.” Although she wondered why he would talk about this kind of stuff, she decided to bite the bullet.

“How does that work?” Pidge frowned. “Meditation?”

“It makes me more mindful about myself. It doesn't include worrying, but it’s about grounding myself to bring my mind out of those bad memories. Imagine having the power to escape bad memories when they hit you for no good reason.”

“So... when?”

“In the Black Lion,” Shiro said with some pride in his voice, “I believe that the Lions all have a spiritual connection to other astral planes unreachable with current technology, places that only our spirits can reach.”

“Really?”

Shiro glanced at the younger Paladin’s eyes, feeling delighted seeing her natural curiosity return to their light.

“Yeah,” he smiled, “if you ask, the Black Lion will let you meditate in her. It’s better than sitting cross-legged on a cold floor.”

“So... astral planes...” Pidge muttered and then gasped, “like... astral projection? ACTUAL astral projection?”

The older male hummed in agreement.

“True. It’s an exhilarating experience...” An idea flashed in his mind. “Tell you what... how about we go now?”

“Really?” Pidge stared at him.

“Yes.” The bed creaked as he stood up. “Let’s go. Black Lion won’t mind. But it’ll only work if we both focus our minds and clear our thoughts.”

Soon, they were inside the cockpit of the Black Lion with Shiro sitting on the floor and Pidge resting in his seat. She glanced around, noticing subtle differences in the controls compared to her own Green Lion until the master of the Black Lion spoke. Guilt filled her as she realised how much she neglected her Green Lion recently.

“Let’s begin. The way it happened the first time, I was just sitting here meditating in order to mentally connect with the Lion. Repeat after me: Patience yields focus.”

Pidge shut her eyes, and murmured the phrase, relaxing her body. The pain in her abdomen throbbed, but she felt it drown as tiredness numbed her mind. Then she thought about the failed training session where she subdued Keith with her anger and guilt wracked her soul. Shiro glanced at her, hoping that this will work as he noticed her face scrunched up in apparent worry.

“Imagine moving freely without anything burdening you. Memories, feelings... it can be like falling through the air and never hitting the ground or being underwater with nothing stopping you,” he spoke lowly.

“Hey, Shiro…” Pidge started, opening her eyes. “I feel really bad for attacking Keith in training.”

“We’ll talk about that later, but he’ll forgive you easily,” Shiro assured her. “Knowing him, he’s more impressed than horrified.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he grinned, “the lesson was about targeting weak points in a fight, after all. You took the chance when his guard was lowered.”

Though Pidge liked how he is praising her, she couldn’t quite feel it settle. She shut her eyes again, murmuring ‘Patience yields focus.’

Meanwhile, Shiro relaxed and closed his eyes, trying to remember the last time he meditated with the Black Lion. As much as he wanted to end up on that strange astral plane he encountered, he couldn’t feel that sensation. To him, it was like touching a star and instantly igniting.

“How do you know when you’re there?” Pidge spoke up, eyes still shut.

“You’ll know,” Shiro said confidently.

The girl nodded and focused, imagining that she is floating in a swimming pool and then--

 

 

Pidge didn’t know when or how, but now that she knows where she is, she can say it’s like falling asleep.

Around her in the vast expanse of space, billions of glittering stars and odd planetary bodies surrounded them. Though her logical mind told her that she shouldn’t be able to breathe, she can. But she can’t feel anything fill or leave her body. She can’t feel anything and the unpleasant feelings plaguing her for the past few days vanished. Gone. She feels so light it was like she was wearing nothing, but a quick look-over eased her mind.

But she couldn’t see Shiro anywhere. This worried her. She DEFINITELY felt his presence because when she first opened her eyes in this amazing world, someone was holding her hands as though guiding her here.

“Shiro?” she spoke and her voice echoed. She moved her limbs until she landed on solid ground, but can still see the ever-expanding universe beneath her feet like she’s walking upon a glass floor. It was like lucid dreaming.

But then she remembered that she can’t feel any pain. It was like she died and gone to hea-- somewhere. For the first time in days, a bright smile split across her face and she yelled as loud as she could until her lungs screamed at her to stop. When she did, she listened to hear her celebratory cheer echo all around her until it died down.

Here, her period stops and nothing else matters. She leapt into the air and with no gravity controlling her, she carried on and on, turning as she went to see more beautiful entities in the star system. She inhaled deeply with as much air as she could in her lungs once more.

-

She woke up gasping like a drowning man, gravity taking her by surprise. Shiro quickly leaned over her worriedly.

“Pidge? Are you okay?”

She breathed deeply until she properly relaxed. She can’t help that fat tears rolled down her face as she sat up properly.

“How was it?”

“Brilliant...” she replied and shut her eyes but Shiro held her face.

“Stay awake, you need to get some sleep in your room.”

“No, I need to get back!” Pidge protested, “I’ll be fine! I’ll leave the Black Lion if Zarkon’s on the move.”

“Pidge...” Shiro murmured, “why do you want to go back so badly?”

“I don’t feel... I don’t feel burdened!” she snapped, instantly regretting her temper. “I never felt so much at peace with myself before! I didn’t want to come back, but why did I?” She rose her voice, looking around the cockpit, “Black Lion, why’d you pull me back?”

“Pidge,” Shiro interrupted, “I know how it feels. When my nightmares get the best of me, I sit here and bring myself to a world where nothing matters. It works. It really does, but time passes and sooner or later I’ll have to put those fears aside to help the people I love. It’s easier to just give up, but in the long run it doesn’t help anyone. It’s doing yourself a great disservice when you put your problems aside and watch them build up because you’re afraid of what’ll happen.”

“Even if those problems are stupid?!” Pidge hissed, feeling her stomachache return and rear it’s ugly head, “you’ll laugh.”

“Don’t put a bet on it,” Shiro warned her, “no problem is too big when you have us and Voltron.”

For a second, Pidge stared at him. Her lips twitched and a laugh left her throat.

“Okay...” she breathed, running her hand through hair. Might as well get over it. “I’ll just say it. I’m on my period.”

Huh?

...Oh.

OH.

Pidge could’ve screamed with laughter at the dumbfounded look on Shiro’s face. As the oldest in Team Voltron, she expected him to at least know a few things about women. Earth women. Then again, Pidge isn’t exactly feminine. It’s easy to forget she’s a girl. Even Pidge forgets her biological sex most of the time.

“Ah... you're on one right now?” Shiro said, trying not to look flabbergasted, scratching his own head and trying not to look away from her.

“Yeah... it’s bad,” Pidge admitted, finding it hilarious to stare at him, “I’ve been getting lots of stomach pains, I don’t have pads or towels and my appetite has been monstrous.”

“And... your pain caused you to break that bathroom door?”

“Yeah…”

“And made you lose your temper and almost turned Keith into a Keith-Kebab?”

The uncharacteristic joke from the leader made the girl laugh out loud and he chuckled too.

“Yeah...” Pidge finally looked at him, “if only I was that strong in battle...”

“Period or no period, anger can make people do terrifying and amazing things,” Shiro reassured her, “anger is a good emotion for motivation, which drives you to make changes however damaging or beneficial they may be. We can all forgive you for being frustrated about something beyond your control.” Pidge just smiled, trying not to tear up.

“Thanks for listening.”

“It’s no problem, it can’t be helped,” Shiro shrugged with a smile before it fell to concern. “Although as for what you need, we’ll need to consult with Allura on getting some stuff together for you. The Space Mall she talked about will be a good place to start, since you can even get old gaming consoles from there.”

“Oh yeah...” Suddenly, Pidge felt gross again as she remembered the fate of one of the poor sheets she torn to strips to soak up her blood. “We’ve been barred from there, remember?” Shiro patted her shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t fret, Pidge. You’ve been working through your pain the best you could when I’ve seen cadets older than you screaming their heads off at getting papercuts. You’re hardcore, Katy.”

The girl’s smile shone and she wiped her eyes.

“One more thing…” she began, “can we meditate together again sometime? I switch off better around you.” This took Shiro by surprise.

“Of course. Although it’ll be more beneficial for you to try out meditation on your own.”

“WHICH I could do with some training from you?” Pidge asked playfully. Shiro laughed and ruffled her hair, making her complain.

“If it makes you feel better about yourself, then I’ll do what I can.”

“Awesome!”

“But only if you show the same amount of tenacity you’ve shown in today’s training. I want to see you overpower every team member by the time we defeat Zarkon.”

-

Pidge didn’t go to the Space Mall on account of getting barred from there, so Shiro and Allura left to shop there together for important supplies. But until they come back, there wasn’t much she could do but to suppress her appetite and pass the time.

When she went to grab a sneaky snack to eat from the kitchen, she encountered Keith just as she entered. He regarded her with apprehension and took a deep breath.

“May I give you something, Pidge?” he asked and approached her anyway, holding out a bag. The girl accepted it and looked inside, seeing strange fruit that resembled the lovechildren of apples and bananas.

“Uh... thanks,” she blinked. There’s so much in one bag, but when she took a bite of one it was oddly pleasant on her taste buds. Quite watery too. Good thing she didn’t have to peel it. She smiled at the Red Lion pilot. “Thanks, Keith.” Her face then fell and she added; “Also, I’m sorry for almost stabbing you for real.”

Keith just shrugged and waved her off.

“It’s nothing. Even deep down I knew you could never bring yourself to physically kill someone.” But to Pidge’s surprise, he managed a smile and said; “Coran said that the musalus are beneficial for hydrating your body and good for exploration on dry planets. He obtained them from a short trip yesterday.”

Then Pidge finally understood. Hydration. She hasn’t drunk as much fluids as she should’ve.

Suddenly, she flung her arms around him for a tight hug and he gasped, but awkwardly hugged her back. She wished she knew where Coran was so she could thank him too.

“Are you busy right now?” she asked when she broke the hug.

“Uh… not really,” Keith answered, “why?” Pidge held the bag open, looking at him expectantly.

“Come eat with me!”

Keith could only meekly nod and utter "sure" as they went to sit together at the table, enjoying the musalus.

-

The acts of kindness did not end with Shiro’s kind words and Keith’s offering. It continued in the form of Hunk as he caught up with her after everyone (minus Shiro and Allura as they are still currently at the Space Mall - seriously, what’s taking them so long?) finished their dinner and handed her what looked like a lush green moss-covered cupcake that illuminated slightly. She rose an eyebrow and smiled at the cook.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a Special Arusian Moss cupcake!” Hunk stated proudly, “it’s made with weird substitutes that can somehow make great cakes and then I sprinkled some sweet-tasting seeds on it and they sprouted! Coran told me that they are perfectly safe to eat and are incredibly high in iron!”

Iron.

Pidge’s shocked stare made him nervous.

“B-because iron is good for your blood and reduces fatigue!” he stammered, “s-so I know it’s just one cupcake, but it should taste good in the least! I saw Keith try one out and I think he stole all the other cupcakes so--”

“Relax, Hunk,” she interrupted and took hold of the tiny plate, “I’ll try it out. It looks kinda cute.” Hunk blushed happily and laughed.

“I’m glad you think so. Artistry’s not just about the taste but looks too. I hope both are good.”

She retreated to her room and took a tentative bite and… Huh. The cake tasted like sweet bread and the moss covering was like… It gave you a sensation of running your hand through long cold grass on a hot day while your mouth filled with a refreshing taste of chilled water. It’s hard to explain, but while the texture was grassy it complemented the cake’s taste. But whatever. Pidge took her time eating the gorgeous cupcake to savour it as much as possible.

-

A certain knock on her bedroom door should be familiar to her by now as she answered it to see Lance holding the game console while looking at her hopefully like a puppy. At first, Pidge felt her mind telling her to give up and just sleep, but she smiled and nodded, stepping over and on tiptoe to peck his cheek appreciatively and then they left to set up the console.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, the next chapter will be dedicated to multishippers. It will be... very funny.


	4. Bonding Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really an important chapter, but because I was writing freely without stopping I ended up dicking around... and came up with the funniest chapter I wrote that got me laughing as I wrote it out and edited it twice.

It took an hour to connect the cables correctly and build a support device to allow the console to be compatible with the gigantic tv screen used for announcing battle results, but Pidge has never felt so happy building something from scratch that allowed an old dusty gaming console to work on a brand-new piece of technology.

They played on the game for hours while simultaneously playing a lets-pretend game pretending that they are famous Let’sPlay YouTubers and cracking bad jokes. Pidge was NonBinary007 and Lance was LadiesMan69. To their imaginary audience, they searched out all the glitches in the only game they bought, documented the years of it’s slow production and eventual decline in light of newer consoles with more expressive RPG formats and how people claim feminism ruined gaming.

“Well I say screw those kind of people, NonBinary007!” Lance roared, “gaming is for everyone! Whether you’re a YBoxer, a FightStation or a PC kind of person, we’re all equal!!”

“I agree, LadiesMan69!” Pidge snorted and collapsed into giggles. “You gotta change that name, I feel dirty.”

“Whatever you say, James Bond!” Lance snickered, “or should I say… James Bondage?” Pidge shrieked.

“Had it not been for the laws of this land, I would’ve slaughtered you!” she reddened and they burst out laughing. Keith walked in 1 minute ago, stared at them, and then left silently.

Few minutes into the game, Pidge briefly left the training room to go change and clean herself in the bathroom, but it seemed like her period’s starting to slow down as she wasn’t leaving as much blood as before. The blood’s still staining her clothing, but she was able to calm herself down and come back to join Lance again to play the whole game, both becoming voice actors this time to fill in for the lack of voice acting in the game. They changed tones, languages (Pidge pissed herself laughing when Lance did his greatest impression of a drunk Cuban entirely in Spanish and she spoke in German with an Italian accent for 10 minutes) and shouted the dialogue at inappropriate times, especially during scenes of where the heroes have been betrayed.

Then the awkward happens; a cutscene began. Even though they saw it already during their previous playthrough, they were too neck-deep in snacks and yammering away to really notice it. But this cutscene is set between the protagonists of the game sharing a romantic moment, staring into each other’s eyes while the sun rose in the background. The graphics weren’t sharp, but it was a rather beautiful scene. Pidge glanced at Lance, who just stared at the screen with his mouth hung open.

“Nice isn’t it, Lance?” she teased and he nodded, gulping.

“Well, NonBinary007, imagine being that much in a love with someone you’re willing to get up early enough in the morning and sacrifice vital beauty sleep just to kiss them in front of a sunrise!” he joked, but his voice wavered.

“Lance? Are you feeling okay?” Pidge asked, getting worried for her Player 1. “Wanna skip the cutscene?”

“I’m good!” Lance protested and looked at her, “it’s just… you know what I’m like back on Earth - plenty of babes to chat and hang out with…”

“I wouldn’t know,” Pidge shrugged, “I have no interest in dating anyone.” And for a brief moment she noticed Lance’s expression shift to disappointment but he laughed and patted her back.

“As soon as we get back to Earth, we’re hitting the bars!” he declared, “I’ll be your wingman and-- Wait, how old are you again?”

“Lance, no,” Pidge spoke up firmly, “I’m not interested in dating anyone.” But Lance grinned and leaned closer.

“Not even with S-h-i-r--”

“What about you and Keith then, if you’re so desperate to see someone in a relationship?!” Pidge burst, face aflame. That stunned Lance. Then he flushed too.

“Not that walking mullet!” he cursed and crossed his arms, “you insult me, Pidge! And here I thought we’re bonding!”

“Think about it!” Pidge suddenly smirked, “you two make a great team!”

“Yeah, but…” Lance shot her a look, clearly flustered, “being a great team doesn’t mean you’ll be great romantic partners!”

“Aren’t you even curious…?” Pidge prompted and he shook his head.

“Nope.”

“Do you think he’s a good kisser?”

“HELL TO THE NO-- WHAT THE ACTUAL--”

Pidge guffawed. Lance took the opportunity to suddenly seize her in a headlock and she squealed when he messed her hair up.

“Hell no! He can’t be a good kisser!” Lance argued while his Player 2 struggled. “Although it does feel nice holding him.”

“See?!" Pidge gasped, surprised at Lance’s strength in his noodle-like arms.

“Nope!” Lance sniffed and finally released his grip on his partner and she took a deep breath before giving him a determined glare.

“Give him a chance!"

"No!"

"GODDAMMIT LANCE GIVE A GIRL HER OTP THIS ONE TIME!"

"I'LL GIVE YOU OTP! YOU AND THE PILLOW!"

"EWWWW LANCE! THE REAL OTP IS SHIRO AND ALLURA!"

Lance inhaled sharply in pure offence.

"YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT! I SHIP MYSELF WITH ALLURA!"

"I SHIP YOU WITH KEITH!"

"Well I'm a multishipper!" Lance declared but paled and Pidge grinned victoriously.

"Me too!" she announced, "therefore, I ship you with EVERYONE in this ship!"

"NOT CORAN!"

"OH MY GOD, LANCE, YOU'RE A GENIUS."

"NO!"

"YES!"

"HIS MOUSTACHE WILL GET IN THE WAY!"

But Pidge smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You are now imagining yourself having a daddy kink!"

“HECK NO! I’D RATHER DATE KEITH THAN CORAN!”

At that moment, the door slammed open and Keith stood there, pure fury burning in his eyes and the two stared at him as he stood in the glory of his boxers.

“I don’t care…” he inhaled, “who sleeps with who… as long as YOU STOP SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER! IT’S GONE PAST FUCKING MIDNIGHT, I CAN’T SLEEP, HUNK’S CUPCAKES GOT ME PISSING WATERFALLS AND I CAN’T STOP SMELLING BLOOD!”

Pidge and Lance stared at him before glancing at each other and nodding.

“We’ll keep quiet,” she said apologetically. Keith breathed out and turned to leave, oblivious to the two totally checking his butt out before the door shut. Pidge turned to Lance. “Did I mention that I’m bisexual too?”

“Trust me, I got a Gaydar AND Bi-fi,” he winked, before thinking deeply, “and pan-scan. My ace-trace keeps attracting me to asexuals but they’re cool people. Nope, I must be pansexual!”

“Just admit that you want to bone Keith,” Pidge giggled.

“Oh my god, Pidge, you can’t just ship me with Keith because he held me ONCE!”

But she grinned and winked. “Just watch me. No ship will ever beat this.”

“Then how about Punk?” Lance blurted. When his companion gave him a confused look, he elaborated. “Y’know! Punk?” He tried not to wet himself laughing. “‘P’ for Pidge, and ‘unk’ from Hunk!” His partner yelled into her pillow.

“NO. I feel too close to him for that!”

“But you both love techno-babble!” Lance argued, “the language of love varies between couples!”

“Don’t assume that all of us will only end up in pairs!” Pidge deflected, thinking quickly, “for all I know, you, Keith and Shiro would make a great group of lovers!”

“Well DUH of course we would!” Lance chuckled and ran his hand through hair, “Keith, the emo brooding guy; Shiro, the hot guy who’ll fight the sun for you; and then there’s me, Lancelot, the gorgeous casanova who’ll seduce you. Who could resist the guys in our category?”

But Pidge had another idea entirely as she giggle-snorted into her hands at Lance’s obliviousness. He stared at her blankly until he realised in horror.

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” his partner snickered, “I don’t JUST ship OTPs… I have OT-Threes.”

“NO,” Lance paled and almost stood up, “you’ve gone too far!”

“It’s too late!” Pidge cackled like a maniac, eyes wild, “I have browsed hundreds of tags on Tumblr back on Earth, but without connection to the internet I was woefully unable to seek my ships, so now I have no choice but to CREATE them using you guys!”

“You’ve gone mad!” her horrified partner gasped. “Surely…”

“Yes!” Pidge affirmed as though reading his mind, “I have shipped you with Keith AND Shiro! The ultimate OT-Three and nobody can beat it!”

“No!” Lance screamed, “have mercy!”

“On your asshole? Never!”

“YES AND NO.”

Laughing hard, Pidge forgot about her pains. She wasn’t serious with her proclamations but Lance played along nicely.

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” Lance suddenly asked, colour returning to his face.

“Alright, thanks,” the younger member smiled. “Let’s get back to playing the game before we wake up Keith again.”

“Yeah, I don’t want him screaming at me except if it’s in bed,” Lance huffed proudly and Pidge choked on air.

“...He does have a nice butt, I admit as much.”

“Yeah!” Lance gushed, picking up the forgotten controller off the ground, unpausing the game, “but you won’t judge me, right, Player 2?”

“Never,” Pidge shook her head, watching play advance the character on-screen, “who you date is none of my business. Unless they want to hurt you on purpose.”

“Thanks - although BDSM doesn’t sound like a bad idea!” Lance meant to say that lightly, but his friend noticed how red his ears have gone.

“What if it’s us?” she asked quietly, looking at his eyes.

Lance’s character on-screen met a gruesome end as she asked that and he turned fast to face her in shock. “Huh?”

“Relationship-wise,” she added, “although age-wise we’d be ideal, but once you turn eighteen years old, certain bloggers will flip out and call you a paedophile.”

“Ugh, I hate those kind of people!” Lance rolled his eyes, “if I was dating you though, I’d keep sex off the table until we dated for a full year.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Sex is just the optional side order - I’d LOVE the other stuff you get in relationships!” Lance warbled excitedly, “like the dates, doing stuff that you both enjoy doing and not just out of obligation, choosing a pet together, discovering new places together, taking so many photos…”

“You could do all that with friends,” Pidge chipped in, “apart from the dating bit.”

“True, but how about… uh…” he slowed, thinking hard, “you got me there. IF that’s the case, then why do I feel like I want to find ‘the One’ to be my forever partner and not just a friend?” He gulped. “Oh man, what if I don’t find someone?!”

“Chill,” Pidge sighed, “I’ll stay by your side forever. I won’t be the side-chick though, because I got more class than that.”

“Is that a promise between bros?” Lance asked and held his pinky finger out. He loved seeing the amused smile on her face. He watched as she reached to hook her pinky with his.

“Only if you agree...” she promised and Lance squeezed them. “...to do the same for me.”

“Promise! Just don’t tell anyone I made a pinky promise or it’ll cramp my style.”

“Good thing my cramps aren’t as bad as before,” Pidge joked and they laughed.

-

Eventually after gaming for so long, the ‘Youtubers’ fell asleep leaning against each other while the credits rolled. The flickering backlight from the screen provided the only light source as well as the piano music filling every crevice with it’s sweet melody. But finally, Shiro and Allura returned from their trip to the Space Mall with a paper bag and gave the two amused looks as they walked into the room.

“Shh! The kids are asleep,” Allura giggled, nudging Shiro’s arm.

“We’ll need to talk to Pidge about bringing boys home,” he joked and they tried not to laugh out loud.

Allura left his side to drop the bag off in Pidge’s room and returned to see Shiro draping a couple of blankets over the snoozing pair before switching off their game. He turned to smile at her and she gave him a thumbs-up.

When they left, Pidge stirred, realising what was going on and relaxed, hugging Lance closer. This is much better than stealing his pillows.

Just before she fell asleep properly, she heard Lance murmur, "I knew it was you stealing my pillows. Thanks for giving me an excuse to talk to Keith."


	5. Chapter 5

Next day at the Castle of the Lions, Allura slept quietly in bed until loud crashing noises woke her up.

“Wha--” she gasped and instinctively leapt out of bed before running outside, where she narrowly avoided being run over by a kitchen cart with Keith riding it.

“Out of the way!” he yelled as Hunk carried on pushing him, wheels squeaking away. He held onto his helmet - which is really a bucket with two holes cut into it. “Lance is in the lead!”

Staring in shock, Allura only watched on as the team charged around the corner. Another source of wheels approached and she glanced back down the corridor the way they came and saw Coran also riding a kitchen cart while wearing one of his many fashionable helmets. Behind him, Shiro was pushing the cart as fast as he could.

“Keep going! We’ll be on top of them faster than a Uniluru debt collector!” he cried.

“Guys!” Allura burst, “what is going on?!”

“Can’t stop!” Coran yelped as they zoomed past, “Pidge and Lance are in the lead!”

Smoke practically rose from the ground where the wheels burned against and the princess could only stand there in aghast.

“What on Altea is going on?” she breathed and scratched her head. Her mice squeaked and suddenly bolted for one of the ventilation shafts.

 

 

“We’re almost there, Pidge!” Lance announced as he ran at full speed, pushing the kitchen cart along with Pidge sitting upon it and wearing her Paladin helmet. She grinned victoriously.

“There’s no way they can overtake us now!” she bragged, “the sticky bombs I left at the 4th floor intersection really slowed them down!”

“This racing game is pure GENIUS!” Lance cheered.

“Sharp corner at twelve-o-clock!”

Swiftly, Lance slowed the cart, but just as they approached the corner, he leapt and began to run along the wall for a few feet while pushing the cart with one hand. Pidge almost shrieked in awe.

“That was amazing!”

A few meters back, Keith also saw Lance initiate the badass maneuver and hissed.

“Hunk!”

“Nu-uh! I ain’t risking us being slowed down again! I’m not the fastest runner and I’m not the fastest corner-turner!”

“Try it!”

“UGH fine!” Hunk spat and just as they closed in he pushed faster. His nerves got the better of him. “You do it!” Before letting go and Keith paled.

“WHAT THE F--”

He braced himself and quickly dropped back off the cart to the ground and rolled to his feet as his ride clattered into the wall and fell to it’s side, wheels spinning pathetically before slowing to a halt. Taking off his helmet, he glowered at Hunk who shrugged nervously.

“I’m not a badass like you, okay? I’m only doing this because Pidge insisted we have fun, and you’re just making a big deal out of it! I thought you don’t even like competing against Lance!”

“HUNK--”

“Yeah, I know, I’m stupid and useless and I can’t even maneuver a kitchen trolley right--”

But Keith suddenly leapt at him and pushed him aside with all of his body weight as Coran and Shiro zoomed past them, both men hooting and hollering as they dashed around the corner.

Hunk gulped and quickly pushed Keith off him, mentally preparing for a scolding, but the emo just huffed and looked away, running to the trolley to right it back on it’s wheels again.

“You were going to get run over.”

“So y-you’re not mad at me?”

“Why would I be?” Keith sighed heavily, “you were doing a great job anyway, so I can’t fault you for worrying about safety.” Hunk was going to protest but he snapped at him. “Come on! We’ll both push and you hop on!” The yellow paladin smiled brightly and began to help him push the cart.

 

 

If Shiro could see the dopey look on his face right now, he’s die of embarrassment as he and Coran both rode the kitchen trolley together, neatly steering it with their combined body weight to avoid obstacles that Pidge has been leaving such as gooey bombs and utensils.

“Is this a common Earth game? Because it’s so fun!” Coran cheered. “We should have intergalactic Kitchen trolley races every year with every planet partaking in it!”

“No, but we should!” the black paladin agreed.

They were gaining speed fast. Even Lance, who glanced back for a brief second and screamed, saw how far they’ve come.

“Captain! Enemy at our six!”

“Keep going at current speed! I got a plan!” Pidge ordered, thinking quickly. “When I say when, you hop on the cart!”

“Aye-aye!”

The feverous race carried on until the racers all approached the upper floors towards the command center, where a makeshift black flag with the words “FINISH LINE” was crudely painted on, courtesy of Keith. Pidge glanced back to see Shiro and Coran neck-to-neck with them.

“Give it up! We’re the real winners here!” Shiro yelled.

“Never!” Lance countered.

“Lance! Now!” Pidge cried.

At that alert, the older boy quickly leaped onto the kitchen trolley and the Pidge/Lance team gained more speed. The double doors ahead were left wide open, showing the finish flag. Motivation sparked in all of the racers’ souls.

“ALMOST THERE!” They bellowed simultaneously--

Then a small explosion rocked the entire castle, shaking their trolleys briefly.

Both teams gasped and looked about. A Galra attack? Right now? Where is Allura?

A pair of loud emerging screams from somewhere in the castle rose louder and louder as well the noise of what sounds like an escape pod rocket thruster approaching the current racers. All four racers went “?” and dared to look back only to all squeal. Gaining in at breakneck speed, Hunk and Keith clung to their kitchen trolley with what looked like a rocket strapped to the lower tray with many layers of duct tape as it roared towards them.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Lance shrieked. “KEITH! THAT AIN’T ALLOWED!!”

“SO’S YOUR FASHION SENSE!!” the red paladin yelled.

The rocket-trolley gained speed towards the other racers and they entered the command center at the same time, and then…

Well, imagine The Roundabout music playing, and then imagine the faces of the paladins and Coran in the coming seconds as their trolleys collided due to lack of control from Keith and Hunk’s illegally-modified kitchen trolley. Contorted expressions, inhuman screaming, wheels spinning faster than chainsaws and metal being twisted. Surely, you think, this isn’t the most dangerous situation they’ve ever gotten into and why are they racing around in kitchen carts?

It was supposed to be a simple affair. Before we conclude the race, let’s talk about this morning - and I mean EARLY early morning - when Pidge and Lance woke up and yawned together.

 

 

Two hours earlier...

“Hey…” Pidge yawned, wiping her eyes, “let’s get breakfast, I’m starvin’...”

“Good idea…” Lance whined and stood up, stretching all his muscles and hearing his bones crack. “Hey, hear that? Can you do that too?”

Foggy mind only understanding what he said, the younger team member nodded and turned her ankles to hear them crack and she snorted. She twisted her back without saying anything and moaned as it cricked.

“THAT feels so much better!”

“Speaking of which, let’s check out what’s in the kitchen,” Lance suggested but then he looked at the video game consoles and the screen. “Dang. We better tidy up though. We’re gonna need this place for training.”

“True…” Pidge thought about her current period and thought of something. “Uh… can you do it? I gotta go to the bathroom…” Lance shrugged.

“Go ahead, I’ll fix things here. And don’t be ashamed - I got older sisters who go through the same thing as you.”

“Thanks!” Pidge hurried out and to her room, where she paused upon seeing a paper bag lying on her bed with a note written on it. Curious, she walked over to check it out.

‘Dear Pidge, these are the only products I could find that could possibly help you. Shiro helped me find them as he has more knowledge on Earth women than I do. Luckily we found a Menstruator Warriors store at the mall. Hope you had a good night’s sleep. -Allura.’

Suddenly excited, Pidge opened the bag to reveal a box with a picture of a mooncup on it, and a slim packet of painkillers. She hesitated.

‘I’ve never used a mooncup, but I know what they do. Looks like…’ her thoughts carried on as she read the packet, seeing that it’s a small size. ‘Good. It’s my size. Thank goodness I’m never having kids. But this must’ve been expensive… Allura and Shiro didn’t have to get me this. They could’ve just gotten normal tampons.’

She sighed and took the soft, silicone cup out the box, folding and squeezing it experimentally while looking at the stem underneath it.

‘Although these can be just emptied, washed out and re-used. No waste. Better for the environment. Yeah. This might be perfect for me.’

It took a few minutes of fiddling about in the bathroom - and 10 minutes of cursing and breathing exercises - but she filled with surprise (and the mooncup) as she felt it pop into place. In fact, her only worry is that she’ll forget about it. But her period is finally coming to an end, so this might’ve been the best time to use it.

“Perfect,” she sighed happily and quickly washed her hands.

She returned to Lance just as he almost finished when he stopped to stare at her.

“Pidge? You feeling okay?”

His partner smiled brightly. “Much.”

Seeing his friend beam, Lance’s heart filled with familial happiness akin to seeing his siblings. He reached over to pat her head.

“I’m glad. Now, everything’s pretty much done, but I’m not really hungry, so… Maybe hang out and do some training? Learn Altean?”

Pidge looked about the training room but suddenly thought of an idea and grinned.

“Hey Lance, what do you do back on Earth when you’re bored?”

That took him by surprise.

“Uh, well…” he leaned into his hand in deep thought, “we lived not far from the beach, so we ran barefoot and raced a lot… Then if there’s a fair in town, we’d go on the dodgems first - we do that every time.”

“That’s it!” Pidge’s eyes sparkled, “Lance, we gotta get into a race!”

“What?” he stared at her, “barefoot? Around the castle?”

“No, no,” Pidge quickly shook her head, “I mean yeah, have a race, but with vehicles!” Lance gasped so much in one breath he could’ve passed out before almost screaming out;

“In the Lions?!”

“Too big and too dangerous, BUT--” Pidge looked about the room then clapped her hands, “the kitchen trolleys!”

“Really?” The older team member began to wonder what Allura and Shiro bought her from the Space Mall to put her in such a good mood. SSRIs? “But…” He tried to do the sensible thing and think of why it won’t be a good idea to race around on rickety kitchen trolleys, but the brotherly side in Lance kicked in as he thought of how he used to have so much fun with his siblings. He can’t resist it. He smiled brightly. “LET’S DO IT!”

They high-fived.

 

 

Back to the moment all the kitchen trolleys collided, life resumed and everything passed in a flash and noise of collapsing Paladins and metal clanging about against the walls and the floor. Screams mixed and wheels bounced away until the dust settled and each rider slowly moved, each one groaning at bodily pains. Coran shrieked and held his leg.

“Curses! I broke my leg!” he whined. Shiro quickly moved and helped him sit up against the wall, shooting everyone else a worried look.

“Is everybody okay?!”

Murmurs and nods confirmed his suspicions. Pidge wobbled to her feet and wriggled her fingers experimentally, feeling relieved that they’re not broken. But relief changed to regret as she watched Lance help Keith to his feet, coughing, and Hunk awkward standing up while resisting the urge to throw up.

“Guys, I…”

Everyone looked at her, but seemed surprisingly worried.

“Don’t worry! It’s not like we died or anything!” Lance joked. At that, Keith grunted and pinched the bridge of his nose as a bead of blood dripped out.

“Is no deal, we suffer’d worse,” he agreed. Pidge skipped over the debris of the destroyed carts and handed him a handkerchief, still unsure. He accepted it and held his nose again. He didn’t seem angry.

“Like me throwing up in a simulator!” Hunk chipped up as cheerily as he could, but regret still haunted their youngest team member. Shiro left Coran’s side to walk up to her.

“It’s alright,” he smiled, “everyone is safe--” Coran coughed and whined. “--mostly, but we did have fun.”

“I agree,” a new voice startled them all and they turned to see Allura with her arms crossed, looking exasperated. “But now is the time to clean up this little mess. Shiro, take Coran to a healing pod; Lance, make sure Keith is sitting down comfortably.”

“What about me?” Hunk asked nervously.

“Help Pidge collect the trolleys and put them in the scrap room,” Allura instructed him before turning to the girl. Pidge looked down, worried about a scolding, but instead nearly jumped when a hand rested on her shoulder and she shot a look at the princess, who wore a big grin. “How dare you initiate an Earth race without me! I love racing!”

“You… you do?” Pidge whispered.

“Yeah!” Allura giggled, “father used to race with me in the berry fields. Sometimes it was barefoot because the vegetation was so soft and there were no rocks to cut us, and he always slowed down to make it fair for me until I grew older and matched his speed…” Her features softened. “The next time you have a race, please invite me. But rather than like this…” she glanced at the mess of broken trolley before looking back at Pidge. “I want it to be with all of us in the Lions.”

Pidge inhaled, feeling her smile grow. Allura suddenly ruffled her hair and she laughed.

“Now get cleaning! I got a lengthy training schedule for later!”

 

 

Much later, after the 100 lap run around the castle which turned into a race of it’s own between Lance and Keith, the Paladins retired to their own rooms with enough exhaustion to put them to sleep straight away. Pidge flopped on her bed when she realised that she had to check her menstrual cup. She could always leave it until the next day, but it would be poor practice to neglect emptying the cup after a whole day so she reluctantly sloped to the bathroom. It took her a minute to feel her way around, but after pinching the base of the cup she felt it loosen and pulled it out, only to accidentally splash a little on the floor and she swore. But once she emptied the cup into the toilet and mopped some blood up with tissues, she felt fine. She knows it’s near the end of her period, but it won’t hurt to have the cup inside her for a bit longer.

Just before she went to bed, the door knocked and she groaned. Her tiredness screamed at her from the depths of her mind, but there was more rapping and she forced herself to move.

“Comiiing…” she sighed and opened it, seeing Lance.

“Hey, how’re ya feeling?”

“Better. Now let me sleep,” she yawned and went to shut it, but Lance quickly put his foot in the way.

“Wait! There’s… something I gotta tell you!” he yelped, face red.

“What is it?” Pidge wiped her eyes, mind fuzzy. Not only is she nearing the end of the monthly subscription to Satan’s waterfall, but it’s also draining her energy a lot faster. A good night’s sleep should help her. If Lance lets her.

“Y-you see…” he stammered, “I know you got a whole lot of interest in machines and technology, but what if you met a guy who wants to date you?”

“Dump him,” Pidge sighed heavily, “goodnight.” The door moved to hiss to a close, but Lance’s desperate hands flew at the gap to barely hold the door open.

“WaitwaitwaitIwannaaskyououtbutyou’relikeasistertome!”

“I don’t know what you’re saying, but I’m tired and you must be too, so goodnight, Lance,” Pidge rolled her eyes and stumbled over to bed, flopping into place while Lance quickly pried his sore fingers away from the stubborn closing door.

When the door fully closed, the brunette groaned and headbutted the door.

“Why do I always dig the stubborn ones…?” he muttered. A couple of meters away, Keith stood staring at him, carrying a teddy bear with a scar across it’s muzzle as he heard him whisper that before turning to walk away.

\---

At long last, Pidge’s period has finally ended. While it may be another 21 days before her uterus takes revenge on her, Pidge can now live with the freedom from the bloody streams and hormonal surges by focusing more into training - moreso for her mind than her body - whilst feeling at peace knowing that she has her handy menstrual cup in her room sterilised and ready for next month’s battle.

Moral of the story: if you’re ever going to be lost in space, take a menstrual cup with you, and clean it out every 4-8 hours and always rinse it in non-soapy water, lest your uterus becomes a breeding ground not for babies but for yeast infections.

The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for having the patience to bear with me updating so slowly! Work drains me (and so do periods.)
> 
> Also, realistically, it would've taken Pidge at least 4 period cycles to get used to a menstrual cup because they actually come in different sizes and a mooncup-branded menstrual cup could be too big (thus, you should always research the different sizes available). Plus if you've never had sex before, it will be difficult to insert any objects in your hoo-hah, especially medical-grade silicone menstrual cups that HAVE to be folded before insertion (there are different techniques of folding, but the c-fold is common to do). They are messy, but there's a fascination with seeing how much blood you shed. The vagina may be made out of thick muscle, but you need to insert a menstrual cup when you're relaxed otherwise you could hurt yourself by forcing one in, so it'd be advisable to use water-based lubricant the first time.
> 
> Okay enough period talk-- thanks for reading!


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